Tuesday, April 14, 2009

"Sleep Begets Sleep"

That's a quote from a lovely neighbor of mine who has had some trouble with her kids and sleeping. It's frustrating because with kids it seems the more tired they are- the less they are going to sleep because of irritability and a general craziness that they all seem to possess. But once they sleep well, it perpetuates more and more good sleep.

So here is how we are doing on the whole sleeping front:

-The first time Chris locked Lily in her room, she started banging on the door and screaming "Daddy!" It was the first time she ever said 'daddy'. It's cute enough when she calls him 'dada' or 'ah-bah', but 'daddy' is kinda the cutest, and I couldn't believe she waited till this particular moment to bust it out. She is so smart! It definitely made Chris' heart melt, and he definitely wanted to go 'rescue' his little girl, but after careful consideration (after I threatened his life) he decided to just go to bed.
Parents: 1 point (1 point for sticking to the game plan)
Lily: 0.5 (gotta give the girl something for trying!)

-Two nights ago, Lily fell asleep right after prayer time in her bed. So I slowly, and very stealthly, crept out of her room and decided to keep her door open. I am trying to remove as much trauma and drama from sleeptime as possible. So Chris and I went to bed pretty early too (10pm. Earliest in as long as I can remember.) And I was awoken by Lily at about midnight. I promptly got out of bed, carried her to hers, told her I loved her a bunch, stroked her hair some, and tried to leave the room. We kinda had a weird little exchage by the door. I felt like we were in some NFL videogame. I was on defense, Lily was on offense, and her goal was to get to the open door behind me. She went one way, I followed, she ducked out from my reach, she almost got to the door, but fortunately my arms were just long enough to grab her. I gave her a stern talking to, a spank on the behind, and I basically ran out the door. Lily started pounding and screaming, and was out like a light ten minutes later. Ten minutes! Not bad!
Parents: 2 points (1 point for being stern, and getting a workout in the middle of the night)
Lily: 0.5

-Nap time yesterday, Lily slept for 2 hours with the door slightly ajar. Amazing! Longest nap she's taken in about two weeks. I tidied up the house (I actually wrote that I 'cleaned' the house, but just deleted it, cause that is a downright lie.) and did a bunch of other random things. It was so great!
Parents: 3 points (a point for being productive)
Lily: 1.5 (a point for sleeping!)

-Last night Lily fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep when Chris laid her down in her bed. He left the door open and she came into our room around 11. (Yes, we were already asleep! Two nights of going to bed early- so glorious. Sometimes the dishes CAN wait till the morning, and the world will not fall into a black hole if I don't check my e-mail/facebook, etc.) She asked for milk, and I unfortunately got it for her (I thought it was 5am!) Then I put her in her bed. Told her I loved her. She thought about getting up but was enjoying her mlk way too much. I locked the door behind me and didn't hear a peep out of her till 7 AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7am people! That's amazing. I long go told myself that I am just one of those people whose day starts at 6 am. Everyday. 365 days a year...
Parents: 2.5 points (minus .5 for giving in to the milk request)
Lily: 2.5 points (another point for sleeping)

And that's what they call a win-win situation folks. Gotta give some major props to Jesus in the midst of all this. Cause I was kinda at a breaking point on Sunday and I definitely complained tons about this to anyone with working ear drums. So for those out there who prayed about this sleeping situation- Thanks!

So hopefully we are on the road to sleep begetting more sleep begetting more sleep. For Lily, and everyone here on E Lomita Ave.

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